Walking the Line
by morgannia
Summary: A fanfic100 challenge 100 Jarly stories, spanning canon, AU, & really AU. Some will oneshots, some won't be, all will be labeled as they go, but all Jarly, all the time. This is a work in progress, stories will be added as written. Give it a shot.
1. In Medias Res

**AN - PLEASE READ!**

Some explanation is needed. As mentioned in the summary this is a challenge response to the lj community fanfic100. 100 prompts for 100 stories, based around my chosen characters Jason & Carly. These stories will span canon, AU & really AU (I've got some really AU ideas, so if you object to something you might want to mention that in a review right now) - some will take place in the GH 'verse we know & follow, most won't - with a varying degree of AU.

All will be Jarly - sometimes they'll be the best friends they've known all their lives, sometimes they've just met, sometimes . . . lol, well you'll just have to read on to see. I'll do my best to keep them IC, but any & everything is up for grabs.

Each story will start off just as this one does - title, characters, prompt, summary, rating (which is rated M for the entire 100 chapters just to be on the safe side), etc. If the story is a continuation, it will be noted up here in the AN - bolded for your attention, otherwise assume it's a one-shot.

I own nothing but the plotlines you read here. If you want further info, check out my homepage. No this doesn't mean that I am putting aside my other GH story, this is just a little bit on the side._**

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_**General Hospital - Carly & Jason. 002, Middles**_  
**Title:** In Medias Res  
**Fandom:** General Hospital, GH  
**Characters:** Carly, Jason  
**Prompt:** 002. Middles.  
**Word Count:** 2,271  
**Rating:** PG13 - language  
**Summary:** 10 facts about Carly & Jason that you never knew - past, present & future - and how they found their way back to each other.

1. Lets face the facts - Carly was never "in love" with Sonny, not really, anyway. Most of the time she actually felt an intense need to strangle him. Thinking about her situation with Sonny always involved her loyalty to Jason, the need for something vaguely stable for her kids, the chance to rub certain sanctimonious faces in her "apparent happiness" & well an enjoyment of angry-sex, more than love for Sonny, although to be fair, then was a certain amount of sympathy and guilt mixed in as well – pretty much all in that order.

Not that Sonny didn't have his moments, even a broken clock is right once in a while & they were together for years, after all. Sonny could be a good friend, a decent husband, always a loving father, terrible ex-husband and a somewhat less than perfect lover (unless you were talking about the afore-mentioned angry-sex, but even that was rarely worth the effort). Most of all, Sonny Corinthos when he finally made up his mind about something or someone, he always put forth his best effort – sometimes failing spectacularly, but he always tried, which in Carly's book meant something, not that much mind you, but something.

2. Truth be told, a couple of months after he moved out of the manor, Jason Morgan remembered more about Jason Q than anyone has ever figured out. How much more? Well, pretty much all of it, actually. Luckily as it turned out though, the only person observant enough to notice just happened to have been the one person who never met Jason Q. It helped that he remembered it more intellectually than emotionally. He knew who everyone was, but he knew there was a difference between how he'd felt before than how he felt now and he was ok with that.

Realistically, who'd want to live in that insane asylum, wearing those clothes, acting like such a dork if they really didn't have to? Sure Jason always knew that he could've have gone back and been welcomed with open arms, but he was having far too much fun, being a mobster in black leather, a motorcycle, with a hot blonde. No way in hell, he was ever going to tell anyone & since he "couldn't" lie, eventually everyone stopped asked. How many people get to live an entirely different life like that? If AJ wasn't such an asshole – Jason would have thanked him by now.

3. Of course, Carly knew how to drive a car. Hell forget about "The Fast & the Furious," those actors had nothing on her. She'd racing for pink slips years before she was legal or it was suddenly "cool." Even today, she'd occasionally, slip out & race, sometimes more successfully than others. To this day, no one else knew who "stole" Sonny's 2006 Scion and crashed it, Carly certainly wasn't telling anyone.

4. Jason thought it was terribly ironic that their "front" was importing coffee. The freakin' warehouse was full of that crap, along with guns, drugs and all the other accoutrements of being a mobster, of course. But still coffee? He hated the taste of it and for the life of him couldn't figure how the hell he got talked into that shit. Why couldn't they import something that actually tasted good, like Dr. Pepper? Or tea, he'd even take tea over coffee, not that he was actually going to admit that fact to anyone of course. Not even Carly – tell her something important and you had a 75/25 percent chance that she might keep it a secret, but give her fodder like that & Jason knew he'd never hear the end of it.

5. Of all the woman, Jason has been involved with, the only one Carly could really tolerate was Courtney. Maybe it was selfish, but she could never picture Courtney as being any kind of a real threat to her relationship with Jason. She and Courtney wound up being good friends, then again Courtney never quite realized that if it ever came down to the wire – if Carly was ever forced to choose between Jason and Courtney, than she'd always choose Jason first. Naturally, that fact probably helped, in retrospect.

Despite hours of listening to Courtney's proclamations of undying love for Jason, Carly always knew that they'd never last. Courtney, in many ways was just like Elizabeth and Robyn. They all cried pretty tears and talked about their "connection" to Jason, but it was always bullshit. Carly never managed to figure how if these "connections" were so strong, that none of the girls ever actually understood who Jason actually was. She could almost bring herself to feel pity for them . . . well, almost.

6. From the moment he moved into the cottage with Carly, Michael & Robyn, he knew it was going to end in disaster, but even forewarned, he couldn't seem to bring himself to avoid it. Despite everything he said to Carly and Robyn, only Michael knew the truth of how he felt and his son was too young to even understand. What he actually wanted, didn't make sense to him, so trying to explain it to either of the women in his life would've have only complicated the situation further – if that was even possible.

Carly only saw what she thought he wanted & Robyn only wanted what she wanted. Telling Robyn the truth about Michael doomed all of them, because other than having her wacked, Jason couldn't see a way to extricate himself from her. And if he ever had told Carly, she would have gleeful done the job. In his late-night daydreams, he toyed with that idea, but was all too aware of how Carly's plan inevitably backfired. So he killed time in the cottage, playing devil's advocate. Sleeping in the bed of a woman who left him cold, trying to forget about the one down the hall that kept him burning, knowing all along that at any goven moment it was about to come crashing down around him.

7. Late at nights, when she couldn't sleep, Carly mused about what was the worse memory of her life. While, there were too many possibilities to count, two always stood out as the major contenders and to no surprise, they both revolved around Jason Morgan – the hate-sex with Sonny and Jason's departure. And for the life of her, she couldn't decide which was more traumatic. Truthfully, she didn't remember very much of that night, between the devastating sight of Jason and Lizzibitch dancing and then shattered expression on Jason's face, it was all a hazy blank. It was vicious irony, considering that those forgotten hours irredeemably changed the course of her life. She hadn't thought anything could be worse than that, but hearing Jason, her Jase, telling her that she would wreak him – in that one moment, she realized that her world totally fell apart.

To her disbelief, she continued to breathe – walking, talking, eating & playing out her role in Port Charles – trash, slut, prodigal daughter, mother, etc, but in that moment she merely existed in the most basic and mechanical of ways, because she knew that she was really the walking dead. The logic of how she was able to continue to live with her heart broken, never quite made sense. She went through the motions, eventually she was able to love Michael – he was after all she had left, but for the small corner still clinging in her ribcage, her heart was simply gone & Jason took it's ghost with him when he left.

8. Jason spent his time away from Port Charles, trying to forget where he'd gone wrong with Carly, but it was like her ghost followed him wherever he went and like a shadow, he was never able to escape her. After a while, he stopped trying.

It was weird.

When he had broken up with Robyn, both times actually it had hurt, but this was different. Different like the difference between a paper cut and . . . well, like a gunshot. It took him years to puzzle it out, not how he felt, because that was obvious even to him after awhile, but how it happened. Carly for all her faults, was the most loyal person he knew – reckless and unpredictable as hell, but absolutely loyal. It wasn't even that sleeping with someone to get revenge on someone else was something she wouldn't do, because anyone who knew Carly, knew that she was more than capable of that. But what he couldn't understand was how she'd be able to do that to him.

That night when he almost lost Carly for the umpteenth time, when Sonny had shot her in the goddamned head, was when he finally found out. He was still amazed that he hadn't killed Sonny on the spot. His "friend" had fallen apart, just like Sonny always did and broke out the tequila and stupidly gotten drunk as hell, and it was in this half-stupor that he confessed. Confessed that like a bastard, he had fucking drugged her. Jason had never felt as cold as he did at that moment

He'd never found it easier to pull the trigger then he did when Carly had finally regained consciousness. Sonny wouldn't have even gotten that last month, if he hadn't still been Carly's next-of-kin. Even Sonny in a stupor was easier to deal with than Bobbie with a head full of steam.

9. When Carly woke up, the world had changed. It took her so long to believe that she was actually awake and that this wasn't just another dream. It wasn't just that Jason was there, because Jason was always around when she needed him most, but it was the way he was there for her. In so many ways, she felt detached from everyone and everything, even Sonny's death. Everyone was walking on eggshells around her, but Jason simply asked her if she wanted to leave and when she said yes, he took her back to the penthouse – not the one she shared with Sonny, but their penthouse. Courtney was still there and there was Morgan in addition to Michael, but it was almost like living with Robyn in the cottage, only she got along with Courtney.

And then Courtney was out of the picture and it was her and Jason, Michael and Morgan – a family unit united against Alcazar, just like they'd always worked against AJ. Carly wasn't sure how this sudden reversal had happened, but she certainly wasn't about to question it either. Aside from their usual disagreements as to how to handle him, Jason gave her grief over making any "plans", it was like it was before that disasterous Sonny. She couldn't say that she was falling back into love with Jason, because she'd never actually managed to fall out of love with him, but for the first time she started to feel secure again in a way she hadn't in what seemed like forever. But this time, Carly decided to bide her time because she still hadn't forgotten Jason's prediction that she was going to break him and she was sure that he hadn't either.

10. Getting back to where they had once been hadn't been as difficult as Jason had expected. Hell, if he had realized it could have been this easy years ago, life would have been so much less complicated. He looked down at Morgan sleeping in his bed just like his brother had so many years ago, whose room he'd already walked through, Morgan had become another son. Carly's latest pregnancy culminated in their marriage, something that sent Port Charles spinning on it's head. Jason still thought everyone's reaction was a bit extreme, but Carly had reveled in it, while he just shook his head and let her plot out the details to her heart's content. Although he did finally have to draw the line, when she starting asking hm about veils. Jason wasn't completely sure why there were 37 different kinds of veils exactly, but he was fairly sure that he could live without that knowledge – just seeing her standing there and hearing them take their vows was good enough for him.

The birth of their daughter, Emma Spencer Morgan, completed their family, and it was a good thing, because it was the last time Carly was ever going to pregnant. Jason refused to ever go through that terror again. Three traumatic births were enough to convince him that he wasn't willing to risk Carly's health ever again, no matter what she said. He lingered over his daughter's crib, visually tracing the wisps of blonde hair that framed a beautiful heart-shaped face. No doubt about it, Emma was the very image of her mother. Not for the first time, Jason reflected that it was a very good thing, Emma had two older brothers.

And life for the Morgan's went on.

It wasn't always easy, of course. Carly could drive a saint insane, but then again Jason knew he wasn't the prize Carly made him out to be either, when she wasn't pissed at him, of course. Occasionally she still plotted and he worked to circumvent her, but some things never changed and honestly Jason wouldn't want it any other way. He smiled at his wife as he walked into their bedroom.

Typically, Carly had taken possession of every blanket on the bed, but Jason had no regrets. He was, after at all, at the top of his game, had his family and the love of his life, what else could anyone ask for?

fin

I've got lots of ideas for this story so if you've gotten this far, leave me a review. It's good karma, you know :D 


	2. The Altar

AN - Just to reassure everyone, I am working on chapter 14 of You Really Want to know, but I had this story & a few others just sitting on my computer, so I decided to post this one today, so I'm not slacking, ok? lol.

**_General Hospital - Carly/Jason. 086. Choices.  
_Title:** The Altar  
**Fandom:** General Hospital, GH  
**Characters:** Carly, Jason, Emily, Lucky, Bobbie, Lucas  
**Prompt:** 086. Choices.  
**Word Count:** 3,098  
**Rating:** R - language  
**Summary:** The night before Jason's marriage to Robyn and Carly is the maid of honor. Is she really going to watch him make the worst mistake of his life?  
**Author's Notes:** AU - Carly didn't lie about her identity, nor sleep with Tony or AJ, but still is Jason's best friend. Inspired by the song, "My Sweet Annette" by DBT.

The Altar

Gritting her teeth, Carly put the image of her hideous pink dress out of her mind and tried to remember how the hell she had conned herself into thinking she could pull this off without being physically ill.

She mechanically pushed food around her plate, occasionally swallowing despite the fact it tasted dry as dust. She might as well be eating Spencer stew. Hell some of Luke's slop might be preferably to this.

Conversation carried all around on her, but all she could hear was the sound of her own heart as she focused in on that steady sound, trying to ignore the sick sensation in her gorge that threatened to overwhelm her.

By this time tomorrow Jason, her Jason, was going to be married to that harpy and not only was she not going to speak up, but she was going to be a witness and was actually going to stand up for Robyn . . . assuming, of course, that she could get through tonight, which she was questioning yet again.

Jason's low laughter broke though the dull roar and Carly's eyes rose involuntarily from her intent study of her plate to focus on him. He brought Robyn's hand up to his lips and kissed it gently, a warm look in his eyes, blind only to his bride-to-be. Carly's throat closed and her stomach rebelled. Biting her lip so hard that it bled into her mouth, left only the bitter taste of blood to mix with bile that she forced back down as her nails dug into the palms of her hands.

Whatever she did, she would do only in the privacy of her own head, because even if nothing else, she had her pride and Carly refused to lose that along with the contents of her stomach, as she really believed might be her last meal. Breathing deeply, she pulled her gaze away from the happy couple and glanced in the other direction. She scanned the faces along the long table and scoffed to herself as she saw all the happy and chattering away sea of faces until she saw the Cassadine.

With a sardonic smile, she lifted her glass of crappy wine – Robyn must have picked it out – and toasted the only person as miserable as she was, bitterly laughing to herself at the perpetually downcast expression on his face because the irony of the moment didn't escape her.

By the time dessert was finished, Carly was ready to ditch the party. Looking around, she saw no one was taking any note of her and silently made her escape out of one of the glass doors. Staring out at the shadow-darkened green gardens of the Quatermaine estate, Carly wished she'd worn her boots – this was not a trek she was looking forward to.

In retrospect, maybe she should try to sneak back into the house and call a taxi?

She took a hesitant step back toward the doors, when she saw Robyn strolling by with that sickeningly blissful look on her face that made Carly want to hurl. Nope, no way in hell, she was going back in there.

"Sneaking out already?"

Carly winced recognizing that voice all too well. She pasted a smile on her face before turning around.

"Hello Jason, wonderful weather we're having out here isn't it?" She commented in a deliberately upbeat voice.

He stared at her curiously for a moment, before arching an eyebrow ironically.

"Sure . . . what's going on Carly?"

"Not much, just commenting that it looks like my best friend is going to have a beautiful wedding tomorrow." Carly felt the unpleasant pull of facial muscles as she fought to keep her painful wide smile intact, even as she gritted her teeth.

"Ok," he replied doubtful. "Now why don't you tell me what's really going on?"

Sighing, Carly gave up her artificial mask. "Nothing is going on." When he continued to stare at her, she threw her hands up in the air.

"Look, I've done the rehearsal dinner thing, ok, been the supportive friend, but I'm not feeling too hot at the moment and I just want to go home – no big freakin' deal, ok? And shouldn't you be in there," one hand flung into the air towards the party going on just beyond the glass doors, "anyway?"

It was Jason's turn to sigh as his eyebrows drew together in concern. "If you don't feel well, then you just should have said so. Wait here for a sec." He watched her for a moment until she threw up her hands in resignation, before he went through the doors again.

Carly watched him make his way to Robyn and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, what's waiting for a few more years?" She muttered to herself.

Carly turned back to face the expanse of lawn and reaching out an arm to steady her, quickly took off her shoes. Dangling the straps in one hand, she started off, cutting across the lawn, ignoring the dampness she could feel beneath her bare feet.

* * *

Sitting behind the wheel, Jason scoured the darkness. Somewhere out there was his pain-in-the-ass best friend. Reaching the gates for the second time, he sighed and did a u-turn again and that's when he finally spotted her, balancing on the curb as she approached him. He swore under his breath, as he executed a quick k-turn and pulled up along side of her, leaning over to open the door. 

When she stood there staring blankly at him, he snapped at her, "Carly, get into the damn car, will ya?"

With a long-suffering sigh, she denied and slid into the seat. "Aren't you supposed to be like holding court or something?"

He glanced at her, scoffing, "Yeah, as if anyone actually needs me there for that, when you're trying to _walk_ home. It's not like I still have my position and you don't even have any guards. What the hell were you thinking?"

She just shrugged as he continued, "And even if I hadn't told Robyn where I was going, it's not like anyone would notice if I wasn't around."

Carly smirked. "No comment from the peanut gallery on that one."

They pulled up to the gate and waited until the rent-a-cop waved them though and Carly took the moment to slip her heels back on.

As soon as they were on their way, without skipping a beat, he asked, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Carly put up her hands in an instinctively hands-off gesture. "Nothing."

"Right," Jason mocked her. "If had been nothing you wouldn't have said it in the first place, but you did, so why don't you just say what you want to say and get it over with."

Her eyes darkened moodily. "There's no point, Jason. You really don't want to hear what I have to say and I'm not in a mood for another argument over this, so let's just drop it, k?"

"Oh god," he winced reflectively, hands tightening about the leather encased steering wheel. "This is about Robyn _again_, isn't it?"

"No, it's not, actually, Jason, and it never is. I could care less about Robyn and her multitude of fucking issues. This is about you, Jason, just like always."

He opened his mouth to reply and she continued right over him, "And just like always you don't want to hear it, so again, what's the point?"

"Goddammit Carly!" His knuckles showed white with the intensity of his grip. "Why are you doing this to me? I'm getting married to her tomorrow. You're _in_ the damned wedding if you'll remember!"

"Yeah, as if I could ever forget that _unholy_ fact," she shot back.

"And why am _I_ doing this to you? Reality check Jase - I'm not doing a damned thing to you, other than watching you make the worst mistake of your life, but since you keep telling me that it's your decision, I don't see that I have much of a fucking choice, so get the hell off of my case!"

"Here we go again . . . why can't you just be happy for me?"

Carly laughed bitterly.

"Look you insisted that I come to this farce, without bitching so I promised that I would. You wanted me to be her maid of honor, _maid of honor,_ when you damn well knew that hideous dress she is insisting that I wear and despite myself I said yes. You forced to come out tonight, when you knew it would make me sick to my stomach, so I'm here and it did. But expecting me to happy about any of it? I'm sorry - that is above and beyond the call of duty, considering that you're about to enter a marriage made in fucking hell!"

Jason shook his head. On one hand he was amazed that she had kept all this in for so long, but on the other he was getting married in less than 12 hours from now and they needed to work this out tonight.

"Carly," he sighed, "you just don't understand."

She scoffed at him. "Yeah, maybe you're right, maybe I don't understand," she began slowly, before interrupting herself with a note of disbelief in her voice.

"Wait a second . . . what the hell am I saying?" She threw her hands up in the air explosively. "Of course, you're not right! I say this with love, but you're a fucking moron!"

Carly turned to seriously stare at him. "I don't know Jason, maybe this is what you've convinced yourself that you want and for all I know what it's what you deserve." Her voice was somber in a way he didn't ever remember hearing it before.

"After all, as you say, you are marrying her tomorrow. Someone you don't love, not really and not in the way that you're supposed to love someone you're going to marry. You've given up everything for her, so I just hope she's worth it, even though I know she isn't and never could be."

"Look at yourself, Jason, I mean it . . . seriously. Do you realize that you are wearing a bow tie _and_ a tuxedo with tails? I saw you hug Eddie tonight, you hate the Q's especially Edward, but here you are celebrating your soon to be funeral, not to mention the fact that you are actually working for them! A year you wouldn't have believed me, if I told this was going to happen – a year ago you wouldn't have been here. And now, I don't even know who the hell you are."

"But if you go through with this, then I'll be there tomorrow, wearing the hideous pink dress and all, mainly because if I don't see it happen, I'll never be able to make myself believe it."

Carly's voice fell silent for a moment, while she watched the headlights reflecting in the dim streets of Port Charles as the car grew ever closer to the boarding house.

"When I told you that I was your best friend, all those years ago, I really did mean it, Jase. I still mean it today, but none of that will matter come this time tomorrow."

Jason pulled off to the side of the road and cut the engine. He turned to face her, feeling a deep chill well up from inside of him. "What is this, an ultimatum?"

A bittersweet smile crossed her face so faintly that he had to strain in the dim light to even see it. "Nope, no ultimatums here," she replied in just as a quiet of a voice.

"Just a simple statement of fact," she continued. "Let's just be real for a minute, Jason, do you really believe that Robyn will let us go on being friends after tomorrow?"

His eyes felt shut in relief, although he refused to think about why.

"Carly, you know that isn't going to happen."

She shook her head ruefully. "You still don't get it, Jason."

Her voice had gone very gentle. "Just like Robyn talked you out of being the boss, into marrying her, hell the same way, she talked you into the manor tonight, she'll talk you out of being around me. Maybe she'll do it slower, because let's face it, she won, but it'll happen. And . . . " she paused, blinking back the tears that burned behind her eyelids. She took in an audible, shuddering breath.

"And I choose to end this now, rather than to draw it out."

"I love you, Jason. I always have and some part of me always will, but I don't want to hate you. I don't think I could live with that, so it's best to make the break now, before it comes down to that. Someday, you're going to remember this and you'll understand, but I won't be around. Maybe I'll still be here in Port Charles or maybe I won't be, but you should come and find me, because no matter where I am or who I'm with, you'll always be my best friend."

Giving into the impulse that been driving her for months, she leaned over to brush a whisper-quick kiss across his lips and before he could even react she opened the door and slipped out into the night air.

"Bye, Jase," her husky voice reached him, before the door closed with a soft snick and the night faded into an ominous sense of finality.

Staring at the steering wheel, dumbly, Jason thought about everything Carly had said – not just tonight but for months. For so long, he had simply dismissed it as Carly being Carly, but if she was serious and he couldn't remember ever seeing her as serious as she was in that moment . . . He tried to imagine his life without Carly and only saw the foggy and intangible darkness of the street before him.

Another memory flashed into his mind.

When he'd gone ring-shopping Carly had managed to be too busy, which he hadn't thought much of at the time, so he took Emily instead. Eventually she wanted to stop for some food, so they stopped. While they were waiting for their order to arrive, she'd asked him why he was going to propose to Robyn. Jason gave her the same answer, he given everyone else.

She shook her head and asked what Carly thought of the whole thing. He had rolled his eyes, because anyone who was anyone knew that answer - Carly was never particularly subtle in her opinions. Jason had gone on to comment that he had wished that she at least would have helped him to pick out the ring, since she always helped him make decision like this. Emily had muttered something under her breath, like "yeah, well, maybe that should tell you something." He opened his mouth to answer her to repeat it, but then the food had arrived . . .

At that moment it all suddenly fell into place, because given the choice of choosing between spending his life with Robyn and spending it in any capacity with Carly . . . well there really wasn't a choice. He didn't understand why he hadn't noticed her before like this, but wasn't about to make that mistake again.

* * *

It was 9:15 and St. Timothy's church was packed with people waiting, impatiently at this point, to see the wedding of Robyn Scorpio and Jason Morgan . . . everyone that is except for the groom and maid of honor, who were nowhere to be seen. 

Emily Quatermaine watched the madness with a light heart and a slightly guilty conscience. She excused herself from her pew, telling her parents that she was going to try and find out what was happening and snuck her way to the back of the church, oh-so-subtly bumping into her partner in crime.

"Hey, wanna ditch this disaster in the making? If we make our escape now, we can beat the crowd and score some purple popsicles."

Lucky raised one eyebrow. "And miss 'the event of the season'?" He snickered.

"Yeah right, with your cousin and my brother MIA, this is shaping up to be a complete non-event."

Lucky laughed as he flung an arm around her shoulder. "After you, m'dear," and they quickly made their exit.

Luke, seeing some movement in the back of church, shook his head even as he pulled out a cigar. "Bobbie, I think it's time to get the hell out of Dodge," he spoke in a low voice. When she turned to stare at him, he nodded his head towards the departing couple.

"Oh no, Luke, you don't think . . ."

"Hey, she is a Spencer after all. And you know as well as I do that girl wouldn't be walking out of her own brother's wedding if she didn't know something the rest of 'em didn't."

Barbara's jaw fell open at his implication, even as she reached for her purse and caught Lucas by the hand. "Oh my Gawd . . . Caroline what have you done now?" She muttered to herself emphatically, but quietly, still mindful of the crowd around them, even as she pushed Luke out the pew. Pulling up Lucas behind her, she shook her head, while hurrying out the church as unobtrusively as possible.

Luke, damn him, just laughed and loudly at that. "Shut it, Luke!" She hissed at him, until they were able to sneak out the side door.

Once they were out in the morning air. Bobbie could only lean up outside of the church and repeat herself. "Oh my Gawd . . . Oh my Gawd . . ."

"Momma, you said 'oh my Gawd', he repeated with the perfect inflection, "and I know what that means." Lucas frowned up his mother in confusion. "Is Carly in trouble again?"

Luke started laughing so hard, he nearly fell over. "See even the kid knows something is up."

Bobbie ground her teeth and swiftly elbowed her obnoxious brother.

"Nothing for you to worry about, baby. Your sister is just with Jason again."

Lucas' frown disappeared upon hearing Jason's name, because he was always good at keeping his annoying sister out of too much trouble. "Oh, ok. Can we go for some breakfast then?"

Bobbie opened her mouth to reply, when an earsplitting scream of fury emanated from within the church. Recognizing that voice only too well, Bobbie exchanged a quick sidelong glance with Luke, who picked up Lucas. "That's an excellent idea. Let's go . . . right now."

fin

This is obviously AU, set in a 'verse where Carly was given up for adoption but found her way to Port Charles and found her mother without hiding her identity. She managed not to sleep with her step-father, who is conveniently out of the picture, and never slept with AJ, thus no Michael. She became friends with Jason, whose storyline continued with being involved with Robyn and eventually led up their wedding.

This idea was based on the song "My Sweet Annette" by Drive-by Truckers, which wouldn't get out of my head. Please don't forget to REVIEW, it's good for your karma.

"Me and my Annette, we was as fond as we could be  
We was set to marry in October '33  
I set my sights on courtin' her, as fine as she could be  
I never ever noticed best friend Marilee

Took a job at the saw mill and I bought my girl a ring,  
Had a pre-wedding party, close friends and family  
Everything was fine, eatin' homemade ice cream  
I swear I never noticed maid of honor, Marilee

My Sweet Annette was left standing at the altar.

Marilee was taken ill, it was several miles from home  
Back then it wasn't fittin' for a girl to leave alone  
Sweet Annette, she asked me to walk her to the door  
As innocent as children back before the war

My Sweet Annette was left standing at the altar.

Lord have mercy for what we done

Lord have mercy when two people get alone  
Neither one of us had done anything like that you see  
By the next sunset, I had eloped with Marilee.

My Sweet Annette was left standing at the altar."


	3. Sealing the Deal

AN - Just to reassure everyone, I am working on chapter 15 of You Really Want to know, but I had this story & a few others just sitting on my computer, so I decided to post this one today, so I'm not slacking, ok? lol.

**_General Hospital - Carly/Jason. 082. If.  
_Title: **Sealing the Deal  
**Fandom:** General Hospital, GH  
**Characters:** Carly, Jason, Lucky, Luke  
**Prompt:** 082. If.  
**Word Count:** 1,862  
**Rating:** R - language  
**Summary:** Carly makes her move. 

**Author's Notes:** AU – Carly grew up in Port Charles as a Spencer. This will probably have at least one sequel, I've already begun one – we'll see how it turns out.

* * *

Sealing the Deal

Carly wasn't one to take no for an answer. Like every Spencer worthy of the name, she knew "no" really meant not now, not yet, maybe later or it was only a matter of time and one way or another she was going to wear Jason Morgan down. She leaned up against the bar, watching him trying to pretend he didn't notice her, but one way or another he was going to be hers, it was eventual.

"Now baby girl, I'm almost afraid to ask this, but what are you plotting away in that little head of yours?" 

Her uncle's suspicious drawl interrupted her train of thought and with an obviously annoyed sigh, Carly turned to face him.

"Me plot?" Carly's eyebrows rose sarcastically high in mock confusion.

Luke winced in response. He knew all too well who she was plotting about and as much as he liked the kid, the thought of his barely legal niece and Corinthos' enforcer was enough to give him an ulcer - never mind the grief he'd catch from his aunt, sister and wife.

"Baby girl," he began, pausing when she crossed her arms across her chest. Luke's brow furrowed as he tried again, "Princess . . ." His voice trailed off when she rolled her eyes. 

"Sweetheart?" He tentatively asked.

Carly sighed again, louder this time.

Luke felt a headache coming on, time to try the hard line. "Car-o-line," he slowly drew out the syllables of her name into three separate words. "We've talked again this before and you know the rules. You're allowed to work here on the condition that you stay away from Sonny's table and all the regulars who sit there. Don't make me call your momma about this."

Carly shook her head. "Yeah and you're going to tell momma what exactly, uncle Luke? That I committed the incredibly heinous crime of standing up against the bar, completely across the room from Jason and haven't come closer than 10 feet to his table all night long? Call me optimistic, but somehow I doubting you're going to get a conviction on that evidence."

Luke cocked his head to the side – yeah, ok, there was that but . . . 

"Come on now, Carly, haven't I taught you better than that? You're good little girl, but you're talking to a master con-artist. You may not have done anything yet, but I recognize that look in your eyes and I know you're up to something."

"Ok, so you're a mind-reader now?" Carly scoffed. "Yeah, go ahead and take that to momma, you know as well as I do that she'll come down on my side. Besides, even if you're right, what's to stop me from doing the crime, if you're going to make sure that I do the time for it anyway?" 

She smirked in satisfaction as he stared at her blankly. Carly's eyes flicked up to the clock above his head and whipped off her tip apron.

"And look at that? It's 11, which means I'm off for the night and since I still have a few hours to kill, looks like I have plenty of time to find some trouble to get into. Night, uncle Luke, see you tomorrow."

Carly reached across the bar to stash her apron and on a whim took a second to pat her uncle's shoulder unsympathetically, before she sashayed off.

Luke's jaw dropped as he watched his only niece, stroll off towards the door in a direct path right past Jason Morgan, the new bane of his life. She didn't get more than a few feet away, he smiled in satisfaction, calling out to her, "Too bad it's only Thursday and still a school night."

Carly merely slowed down, as her head turned to laugh at him, before she continued on her way.

Luke's smile fell, as he watched in confusion. Behind him, he heard a low chuckle. Frustrated, Luke turned to see his Lucky, bringing in a tray of freshly washed glasses. "You got something to say, Cowboy?"

"Yeah, dad. Did you forget that it's August? School's been out for almost two months now. That's pretty much the only reason Mom and aunt Bobbie have been letting us work nights, remember?"

"Aw fuck, Cowboy!" Luke stared him. "And you waited until now you tell me this?"

Lucky snickered. A sudden movement across the room caught his attention and he had to fight to keep his snicker from erupting into full-blown laughter. If he wasn't mistaken, he had a pretty good of exactly what kind of "trouble" his favorite cous was planning on. And after Bobbie was finished grounding her, he had every intention of getting Carly to teach him how to pull that off. He'd seen some experts make similar snatches, but damn that was smooth. He shook his head slightly in admiration.

* * *

Around midnight, Sonny decided to call it a night. Lucky brought the bill over, smirking at Jason who narrowed his eyes in response, and everyone dug out their wallets . . . Everyone except Jason that is.

When his hand went to the pocket of jacket where he knew his wallet was supposed to be, he only found a twenty dollar bill and a half-torn bill. Scowling, he read the words and swallowed his initial response. Jason quickly tossed down the twenty and slid his jacket on. He muttered a brief goodbye and went out to find a certain pain in his ass.

Less than fifteen minutes later, he pulled up at the boxcar. He cut the ignition, pocketing the keys and moved the kickstand into position. He sat on the bike for a minute staring at the faint glimmer of light he saw glowing from the open door, before he decided to bite the bullet and made his way inside.

"Took you long enough to get here," Carly commented casually, turning down the volume of the music she had playing out of a small boom box. "I was beginning to get bored."

Jason stared down at her, taking in the sight of the pizza box resting on wood carton, the blanket she had laid out, before while staring down at her, half-sitting, half-lounging, her face tilted up towards his.

His mouth opened in angry retort, but of the half-a-dozen things that came to mind to chew her, instead he made scoffing noise and sat down across from her and pulled out a slice of pizza, plain but for the extra cheese she always insisted on.

After swallowing his first slice, he reached for another. "So who paid for this, you or me?"

Carly laughed and Jason reminded himself to ignore the sparklingly gleam in her brown eyes.

"Well, _I_ did, of course. It'd be rude to invite someone out to dinner and then to make them pay for it. After working for seven hours I was starved and since Claude is off for the night, it's not like there was anything actually edible at the club." 

She smirked at him, tossing him his wallet back. Jason caught it with his free hand, not even bothering to check the contents, before slipping it back into his pocket.

Watching him polish off yet another slice, Carly pushed herself up to a sitting position. She was about halfway through her mental checklist – snagged the wallet and got him to a place they could be alone, which in truth was helluva lot more than she'd actually expected. With a little bit of luck, she might actually be able to seal the deal tonight.

Jason leaned back against the wall, staring at her, as he tried to figure out what to do now. Carly wasn't the first woman who tried to make a play for him, but she was hands-down the most stubborn, the first he actually considered and unfortunately, the only one who as Luke had put it was definitely "off limits."

"You know this can't go anywhere, right?" 

Carly's eyes narrowed rebelliously. "Says who? You, Sonny or my uncle Luke?" She demanded in an irritated voice.

Jason sighed. "You're too young and you're my boss' partner's niece."

"Bullshit!" She scoffed, moving closer to him. "I'm 18, Jase, I'm legal to do anything except drink, not that's ever stopped me before. And as far as Luke goes, who the fuck cares? I don't and I know you don't, so what's he problem?" She was on a roll now.

"I've seen that Robyn-twit hanging all over you. Her dad's a fucking cop, hell he's the top cop in the whole city. She'd get with you in a heartbeat and you'd go along with it, assuming she'd actually ever put out, of course. And if you're willing to hang with her, there is _no_ reason not to be with me instead."

"Carly . . . " Jason sighed again, feeling that curious sense of tension that he always got in these arguments with her. "You know that Robyn and I are just friends."

"Riiiggghhhtttt," Carly sneered. "I know you think that, but trust me, she's got something entirely different in mind. And if even if you two were thinking the same thing, which you're definitely not, she's no good for you anyway."

When he started to shake his head, Carly's voice rose.

"Seriously, Jason, you can't tell me that you actually have fun with her! Remember I've seen you with her, always telling you what to do, how to feel, what to say . . . Hell, she tells what to eat and I've seen what she's tried to get you eat – it's bullshit, man. She doesn't want you Jason, she wants Jason Quatermaine and if nothing else proves my case, that fact alone should."

"I know you don't remember, but she had the most pathetic crush on him for years, but he never wanted her and I know you don't either. You need to cut her loose."

"She was my first friend -"

She cut him off ruthlessly, "Who you trying to kid – you or me? She's trying to turn into you into someone you're not and it's gotta be driving you crazy. You can spot a lie a mile away, Jase, so you tell me have I lied to you yet?"

Jason felt his temper begin to spark and his fist slammed into the wall behind him with enough force to shake the boxcar. "What the fuck do you want from me, Carly?"

"I want you to do what _you_ want to do and not what some Miss Priss shoves down your throat!" Carly's eyes flashed, her temper matching his. She moved in closer to him, resting on her knees, so her eyes were on the same level as his.

"You really want to see what I want, little girl?" He watched her with a brooding expression for a long moment, before he reacted. His hands rose to spear through her hair as he hauled her up against his body. 

Staring into her eyes, Jason broke. 

Ignoring all the reasons he shouldn't, he angled his head and his lips covered hers fully – tasting, teasing and drowning in the sensation that was pure Carly Spencer.

Fin/tbc

This is obviously AU, set in a 'verse where Carly wasn't given up for adoption & grew up as Bobby's daughter, Jason's life story pretty much stayed the same. As mentioned above this might spawn a few sequels, if you'd like to see more, please let me know.

Don't forget to review, please. It's good karma & really does help inspire.


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